Jaeger-LeCoultre Gold Cup for the British Open – Quarterfinals Day 1

La Indiana vs Sommelier

The first quarter-final of the 2017 Jaeger-LeCoultre Gold Cup saw Sommelier stun a La Indiana team without Agustin Merlos, 15-12 at Cowdray Park Polo Club.

Behind six goal performances from both Juan Gris Zavaleta and Fred Mannix, Sommelier was very effective on their set plays as they took advantage of winning 22 of 32 throw-ins to generate more scoring chances throughout the game. Outshooting La Indiana seven to one in the opening chukka, Sommelier continually had La Indiana on the defensive early on to gain a 3-1 lead and never relinquished that lead the entire game on their way to victory.

After the dominant first chukka that saw Sommelier control possession and race out to an early lead on one goal each from Mannix, Zavaleta and Alec White, the remainder of the first half was evenly played with neither team able to break away. In the absence of the second highest scorer of the Cartier Queen’s Cup in Agustin Merlos, La Indiana looked to his replacement, brother Pite Merlos, along with Luke Tomlinson and Nic Roldan to carry the offensive load. Tomlinson led the way for La Indiana with four goals in the first half, but a high scoring affair saw both teams score three goals apiece in the 2nd and 3rd chukkas as Sommelier maintained their two goal lead and went into halftime with the 9-7 lead.

The 4th chukka was key for Sommelier as they held La Indiana to zero shots while the combination of Mannix and Zavaleta was difficult for La Indiana to contain as Zavaleta’s 4th goal of the game helped extend Sommelier’s lead to four.

A late push from La Indiana began in the 5th chukka as they would convert four of their last five shot attempts, along with a penalty conversion for Tomlinson to score five goals in the final two chukkas, but La Indiana was unable to stop the offensive attack from Sommelier throughout the game. Finishing with 20 shots as a team, 10 of which coming from Zavaleta, Sommelier was able to attack relentlessly on their way to the 15-12 victory, booking their spot in Wedneday’s semi-final.

El Remanso vs Monterosso

Using cohesive team defence, El Remanso were able to contain the Monterosso attack despite losing 23 of 33 throw-ins on the game. The extra possessions for Monterosso only resulted in one extra shot at goal, as all four players for El Remanso were active defensively, with Charlie Hanbury marking Ignacio Toccalino tightly throughout the game. James Harper was effective in finding his teammates and stretching the field to put pressure on the Monterosso defence. Harper also added six goals of his own to lead El Remanso to victory.

After Monterosso’s Ignacio Toccalino opened the scoring, it was all El Remanso the rest of the first half as they would score six of the next seven goals, three of which coming from Harper. Monterosso had their chances in the first half, winning 13 of 18 throw-ins, but were unable to turn those into scoring chances, only shooting at goal four times. The defensive combination of James Beim and Harper were very effective slowing down the Toccalino brothers, as El Remanso was effective in their counter attack, converting 6 of 8 shot attempts to take an 8-4 lead into halftime.

The second half was more of the same for Monterosso as they were unable to figure out the El Remanso defence and consistently put together an attack past the four man unit of El Remanso. The effective shooting continued for El Remanso in the 4th and 5th chukkers as Harper and Oliver Cudmore scored two more goals each, putting the game out of reach as El Remanso stretched their lead to 12-6 lead with one chukka remaining. Finishing the game shooting 9 for 12 from the field, the combination of efficient shooting and strong team defence was too much for Monterosso to overcome, as El Remanso continued their strong run in the Jaeger-LeCoultre Gold Cup and advancing to Wednesday’s semi-final.